Cross & Double
by JMK758
Summary: In my stories, the Dominion War is over, but nobody left. Here, Ezri comes to Julian and Sisko with unusual requests.
1. Default Chapter

**Cross & Double**

by: JMK758

Disclaimer: The characters in this DS9 story are the property of Paramount.

Premise: In my series, the Dominion War is over, as in 'What You Leave Behind', but no one left.

Rating: Chapters PG-13.

Pairing: Ezri & Julian.

Tease Line: Ezri comes to Sisko and Bashir with most unusual requests.

**Chapter One**

Needs & Passions

Ezri paced Julian Bashir's quarters anxiously, wondering where he was. She was agitated and trying her best to hold it in. That she was not doing well at it was obvious. "Where the hell is he?" She wondered to herself. She knew she could ask the computer, but that would raise complications she was in no position to face. Until she got what she needed, and could get out of this room, could see the Captain, she could not risk anything. "Get hold of yourself, Ezri," she demanded of herself, "he'll be here!"

She was not in a Starfleet uniform, wearing now only a light blue tee shirt much too tight on her and an ultrashort black skirt. She had been left with no time to change before putting her plan into effect, but she was desperate enough to run any risk.

She continued to pace, checking the time on the wall chronometer every time she faced it, wondering over and over if she was doing the right thing. No, she was sure she wasn't. She had two choices, and they were both madness. The only question was, which one would she have the best chance of survival with?

"Julian, it's fricking 25:50, where the hell are you?" She flicked a lock of her long black hair from her shoulder and plopped down on the couch. She sat for a grand total of three seconds, then was up pacing again.

"This is all going to go wrong!" She didn't like what this was doing to her. She was normally so under control, so much the one running things, but everything was out of control. She was reacting, not acting, doing now without thinking, and she knew she was courting disaster. "I keep screwing up!" Frustrated, she delivered a hard kick to the couch. "Frick! Where is Julian?!"

"Doctor Bashir is in Habitat Ring, corridor 34A." The computer supplied helpfully, not knowing that Ezri's heart had leapt into her throat, and she froze in abject panic. She held her breath, trying not to tremble, but after long tremulous moments, nothing happened. She slowly let out a shuddering breath, feeling she was about to faint from terror. At that moment the door to the corridor slid aside and Julian stepped in. Ezri spun toward him, her heart leaping as she saw him coming in, dressed in his uniform, and for several seconds she clutched her chest, unable to breathe.

"Ezri? What's wrong, honey?" His surprise turned rapidly to concern as she stood there, shaking, not able to move.

"Honey?" Her voice was more like a squeak. He came to her, and she looked ready to faint, eyes wide, breath caught...

"Ezri, darling, are you —?" He was unprepared when she literally threw herself at him, flinging her arms around his neck, pressing close enough to almost knock him over and kissing him with a wild passion that surged past outright desperation. He tried to talk, but all that managed to get free were unintelligible hums. Ezri opened her mouth, thrusting her tongue into his, sensuous kisses tinged with frantic clamoring need.

Julian was shocked, not that he objected. But she was pressing her hips against his, rubbing her crotch against his, pressing her breasts to him. Now, he never had any objection to a passionate, excited woman, but this was going too far! He pulled back out of her mouth enough to get two words out. "Ezri, what's—?" She pulled him back, virtually climbing up his taller body. As she frantically tongue kissed him, trying to use her body to stimulate him, he was starting to actually get annoyed. He pushed her back. "Ezri, while I enjoy a certain amount of _passion_, this is ridiculous! What are you doing? And what," he asked irrelevantly, looking at her long, black tresses "have you done with your hair?"

"Screw my hair!"

"Well, it does look nice, don't get me wrong, but -."

"Julian, I don't have any time to explain!" She grabbed the bottom of her blue tee shirt and virtually ripped it off her body, her hair wildly disheveled as she pulled it free. "I need you to _fuck_ me! Now!" Did he really hear her right?

"Come again?"

"I haven't even come ONCE!" She almost yelled. Now he was really starting to get annoyed. Usually with her, it was slow, tender and loving, and if at times it went wild, so much the better. But she had never thrown herself at him like a desperate slut!

She threw herself at him again, pressing close, almost grinding her breasts into his chest when he grabbed her shoulders and shoved her back, holding her at arms length. He looked into her eyes, finding lust swimming, no - drowning in desperation.

"All right, Ezri. I can't say I like this approach, but of course we'll make love."

"Thank you!" He had never had a woman so monumentally grateful.

He came back, taking her in his arms, holding her close. She moved more slowly, but feeling her bare flesh under his hands, it was like she was trying to jump out of her skin. He bent down to the smaller woman, and they kissed, a long sensual kiss, but she was clearly holding herself back. There was an urgency he could not understand. She started pulling at his uniform, but it was like she'd rather have ripped it off his body.

But as they undressed, caressing each other, she began to relax. There was no longer the mad, driving desperation, but there was still something different, something wrong, something he couldn't place. But at least her mad urgency dropped with their clothes.

It was mad, insanely wild and passionate, more so than Julian could ever recall, until the moment when she cried out: "More, Julian more! I need to have your baby!" The surprise actually stopped him dead.

"Baby?"

"Baby! Oh, yes! I need to get _pregnant_! I need your baby, Julian!"

It didn't register for several seconds that he had stopped, but finally her eyes cleared, and he could tell she was able to see him. "Ez, I think we need to talk about this."

"There's nothing to talk about." She told him with a look of triumph, feeling him in her. "I want to have your baby. Don't deny me this, Julian. I need your baby. I have to get pregnant."

"Ezri?"

"Yes?" Ezri asked, coming into the room. "What's with leaving clothes on the fl—?" Ezri froze, a bundle of their clothes in each hand. She stared at the naked couple on the bed, the clothes falling from her nerveless hands. Julian gaped first at her, then at the woman under him, and it was uncertain just who was more shocked.

Ezri pushed herself up on the bed, supporting herself on her elbows so she could see the stunned Ezri. "I've come seeking sanctuary. I request Political Asylum."


	2. Asylum & Revelations

**Chapter Two**

Asylum and Revelations.

Benjamin Sisko was deeply asleep in his quarters, Kasidy beside him, when the chime from the computer sounded insistently. Long years in Starfleet, where late night calls could range from a meeting to a ship-destroying disaster, had made him a light sleeper. Of course, the same thing could be said for his wife. "You get it," she muttered, "it's your station."

"Go ahead."

"Bashir here. Could you come to my quarters? I have someone here requesting Political Asylum."

"In your _quarters_?"

"Yes, and please hurry, because I think Ezri is liable to tear Ezri apart with her bare hands." The Siskos exchanged looks, neither sure they had heard him right.

"Would you repeat that?" He did, verbatim, and it didn't make any more sense than it had the first time. "I'll be right down. I'd tell you to make this good, but I have a feeling you're going to."

-

When the door slid aside in front of him he was greeted by the early morning sight of Bashir in his quarters flanked by two Ezri's. They were both absolutely identical, except that the one on Sisko's left had long hair with a distinct wave and wore a blue tee shirt at least two sizes too small, and a short black skirt that reached for a spot past her hips but didn't quite make it. The Ezri on his right was the familiar one, wearing her usual Starfleet uniform and a decidedly unusual look of barely contained fury. O'Brien might describe her as seconds from a core breach.

"I take it that you are from the Alliance universe?"

"Very good, Captain."

"I've been there. And you are asking for Asylum?"

"Asylum doesn't start with fucking the CMO!" Ezri snapped at her twin. Sisko took a moment to assess the situation, knowing that whatever he'd stepped into, it was more than just _politically_ explosive.

"Would someone tell me -" he held a restraining hand up to his Ezri, "about the Asylum request?"

"My life is in danger."

"There's a war on!" Ezri told her hotly, her feelings about her twin's potential fate clear in her tone.

"Not for us. For us, the war is over."

"Who won?" Sisko asked.

"The Terrans. Their Confederation controls most of the sector. The Defiant fleet saw to that."

"Fleet?"

"Twelve ships so far, based on the design you helped perfect. Supercharged ships that can run rings around a Destroyer or Battleship, and punch through any shield this side of Andromeda."

"And you backed the..."

"Alliance, that's right."

"So now you're getting what you deserve." Ezri said. The other turned on her.

"Will you give it a rest?! Yeah, I fucked your 'boyfriend', and he was one hell of a lay - you probably taught him a lot - and I'm not sorry! But that has nothing to do with this!" Sisko saw his own Ezri turn red, and knew this would devolve into a shouting match at the least.

"Please, old man. One calamity at a time."

"'Old _man'_?" Ezri asked with a definite smirk.

"Yeah, what's it to you?"

"Nothing, except that someone here needs glasses!"

"All right!" Sisko's hard voice cut through them both. "It is oh-oh-fifty hours, and we've a lot to do. We can continue this in my office, or here, but the personalities get shoved out an airlock, clear?" Everyone agreed, Ezri with a sharp but reluctant nod. "If it's any consolation, I don't know of anyone who got along with their doubles." She was about to say something, but bit it back, and he silently suggested that everyone sit down. Ezri and Julian sat on his couch, Ezri pointedly leaving no more room. Her twin sat in one of the chairs at Julian's other side, and Sisko in the remaining chair at the couch's head. "All right. Tell us all about it."

Ezri took a moment to prepare herself. He could see for all her bluster and bravado that she was not having an easy time hiding her uncertainty, and perhaps more. "Terok Nor is the seat of the new Terran Confederation. The war is still on, but the Alliance is being beaten back, parsec by parsec. More and more Defiant-class ships are being built at shipyards, and nothing the Alliance has can match them."

"And Bajor?" She shook her head.

"Bajor was a stronghold of the Alliance, and the Confederation couldn't have an Alliance center so close to its main headquarters. Bajor was given the chance to capitulate, and turned it down. I think there are a few microbes left in some of the more remote regions."

"My god. How could Smiley permit such a thing?"

"Smiley?"

"One of the leaders of the rebellion, Captain Miles O'Brien." She shook her head.

"The Intendant had him assassinated. I'm afraid he has no more say in anything."

"What about Jennifer Sisko?"

"I'm sorry. She is also dead." Ben tried to keep the pain he felt from showing. As long as one Jennifer had been alive...

"And the Intendant?"

"Killed in the destruction of the Regent's flagship. That destruction was the turning point of the war. Then people started to believe the Confederation had a chance to win."

It was a lot to take in. "Then what happened?"

"The Terran Empire stood for over three hundred years. There are some that 'remember' the 'glory days' of the Empire. In fact, in some races like the Vulcans, that may be literally true, I don't know.

"All I do know is that there is a great affection for the power the Empire controlled. I don't know too much about it, but there are a lot of people who advocate going back. Knowing what it is like to live under martial law, they see little difference. There is an appeal to a strong Emperor."

"What do you believe will happen?"

"I believe that the Confederation will wipe out the Alliance, and then the Empire will evolve from the Confederation. What I _know_ is that I will not survive to see which way things fall if you don't grant me asylum."

"And why do you need asylum here, of all places?"

"To escape the pogrom." She paused, studying their faces. "The Confederation, with their quasi-Empire leaning factions, has decided that the backers of the Alliance are not to be trusted." Ezri Dax gave an inelegant snort, her twin ignored it. "Anyone like me, who supported the Alliance, who remains in their space is to be hunted down and executed."

"Why not go back to Trill?" Ezri asked.

"There is nothing for me on Trill. I'm known there as a collaborator. They would kill me too."

"You were an operative, not a major player." Sisko pointed out.

"All the easier for me to be killed."

Sisko was silent for many moments, contemplating the ramifications of all he'd heard. Certainly these developments were not for them alone. "Computer." There was a small chirrup from hidden monitors, just to let him know that the controlling 'intelligence' of the station was receiving his words and prepared to act on his commands, "Alert the senior staff. Meeting in the Briefing Room in thirty minutes." Chirrup. "Dax, please see about finding our guest some quarters." Dax started to rise, her resentment not well under control, but her twin looked at her curiously.

"Dax?"

"Yes, that's the name of my symbiont. I'm Ezri Dax."

"You're _joined_?" Ezri's tone was astonished, mingled with awe. "My god, an actual Joined Trill!" She breathed, clearly taken by surprise. "I thought I'd never see one!"

"Why not?"

"On Trill there hasn't been a symbiont in over two hundred years."

"WHAT?!"

"The Terran Empire mistrusted anything that could carry memories and intelligence from one host to another. Strategy, weapons, just the memory of being free. When Trill was conquered every Joined Trill was hunted down and executed, the symbionts awaiting joining were destroyed. There is no such thing as a Joined Trill."

Ezri felt her legs go out from under her, and sat down heavily on the couch, stunned. Sisko sympathized. Evolving over millions of years as a joined species, bred and trained to support and protect the symbiont even over one's own life; for one half of that to no longer exist... It had to be devastating.

"Come with me." He told Ezri Tigan, and when Ezri Dax looked up he waved her back, his meaning clear. "I'll take you to the Briefing Room. You two follow when you can."

On Sisko's right sat Ezri Tigan, Kira, Odo and Worf; on his left Bashir, Ezri Dax and O'Brien. They had already been told such facts as had already been revealed downstairs. "So," O'Brien started, looking at one Ezri, and then the other, but addressing Sisko, "are you going to grant asylum?"

"That's what this meeting is to decide, based on your recommendations."

"I think the lot of us are just getting a handle on the fact that there is none of us alive over there."

"Except Captain Bashir?" Julian asked. "What about him?" Ezri shook her head. He had another question for her, but it was too personal for him to ask here.

"All right. Opinions?"

"If you were only an operative of the Intendant," Worf rumbled, "why are they determined to hunt for you?"

"I told you. They're hunting everyone who allied themselves with the Alliance."

"That is a lot of people. A lot of resources."

"The Empire was founded on ruthlessness. There are some who advocate returning to that ruthlessness."

"Ruthlessness on a small scale is one thing. On a large scale it is genocide."

"It's already been genocide." Kira pointed out. "Bajor is destroyed." She looked at Tigan.

"The planet is still there, but nothing will be on it for millennia."

"Odo?"

"I've never been there. You, Kira and the Doctor have. What do you say?"

Whatever Sisko would have replied was cut off by the intercom. "Ops to the Captain."

"Go ahead." When he did, the speaker's voice was monumentally uncertain.

"Captain, I - I don't know how to - to tell you this, but - ."

"Spit it out!"

"Your wife is here. And so is a 'Captain' O'Brien."


	3. The House of Cards Falls

**Chapter Three**

The House of Cards Falls.

"Bring them to the Briefing Room." Sisko ordered tonelessly, eyes locked on Ezri Tigan. The girl's expression was haunted. "Dead? Jennifer and Smiley are dead?" She looked away. "What other lies have you told us?"

"My vote is for every word out of her damned mouth." Dax said bitingly.

"Well, before they get here, is there any part of your story you'd like to change?" She shrugged.

"What would be the point?"

"Your choice."

The door slid open, and Jennifer Sisko walked in. She looked exactly as she had when he'd seen her last, wearing now a beige jacket and skirt. Over her left breast was an image of the Earth's western hemisphere. It was a finer piece now, represented in more pride, smaller but in full color. Miles O'Brien wore an identical emblem on the left side of his maroon jacket. His eyes, for a moment, fell on the Ezri he had come to see, then sought out the Chief. "Hello, Miles."

"Hello, Miles. Seems strange to say."

"Tell me about it."

"Jennifer, Miles," Sisko started. "It's good to see you both again. We were just talking to your friend."

"Huh, no 'friend' of ours."

"Really, and you've traveled all this way to see her."

"Not see. Collect. For execution."

Sisko had managed to get everyone seated, those on his left moving down two. Jennifer sat closer to Benjamin, at the head corner of the table, subtly establishing her position without calling undue attention to it. Captain O'Brien deferred to the Professor.

"You should know," Sisko began, "that Ezri Tigan has appealed for Asylum."

"Well, you certainly can't be planning to grant it." Jennifer said dismissively.

"Actually, we haven't decided." His tone made it clear that he would not be pushed. Jennifer stared at the man who looked so much like her late husband.

"You're serious! Do you realize what you're going to do?"

"Perhaps not. I'm hoping you can enlighten me. Ezri's explanation so far has been - imaginative."

"I've no doubt of that!" O'Brien laughed. "The Queen of Lies herself."

"In my business, lies are just as useful as the truth. It just depends on who you tell them to."

"And what is your business. You called yourself an 'Operative' for the Intendant."

"That's right." Jennifer agreed. "She was a spy."

"And a very costly one." O'Brien pointed out accusingly.

"We are at war. I am a soldier of the Alliance. I worked under the Intendant, but _for_ the Alliance. I did my job to the best of my ability."

"How is Bajor?" Kira asked suddenly, seemingly irrelevantly.

"All right." Jennifer told her, distracted.

"And the people? Happy?"

"They're getting along, adjusting to a new government. Why is this?"

"She told us that Bajor was wiped out, that there was no one alive at all."

O'Brien gave a bitter laugh. "And you believed her."

"We had no evidence not to." Sisko told them.

"Did you lie to us about everything?" Kira demanded of Tigan.

"Not all. Quite a bit. I had to tell you what I thought would get your help."

"Well, you just blew all of that!"

"Not necessarily." Sisko said. "What's to happen to her now?"

"She will be tried for espionage. And when found guilty, she will be executed."

"Is there no alternative sentence?"

"For some there is. Not for her." O'Brien maintained.

Sisko sat back in his chair, silent for several moments. Finally, he made a decision. "The appeal for Asylum is granted." Ezri looked like she was going to collapse in relief, Jennifer was on her feet in an instant.

"What?! You can't do that!"

"I'll admit," he agreed, "that the law is being stretched to galactic lengths, but you'll find that I can. When a request for Asylum is made, if in the judgment of the commander refusing that request would lead to grave consequences - you've said she is to be executed - Asylum can be granted on the grounds of extreme circumstances."

"That's outrageous!" Captain O'Brien declared hotly.

"Not at all. When we were in your universe, we played by your rules. You are now in ours."

"And what do your rules say about getting her back?" Jennifer demanded. "We demand extradition!"

"Well, that's where it gets tricky. There is no extradition treaty between your universe and ours, and I doubt there ever will be one. But waiving that, I can call an extradition hearing to get all the facts out, so that we can decide the case."

"Then convene your hearing!"

"Captain," Odo pointed out, "there is no way to obtain certifiable evidence to support anything that either side may say. The entire case would be reduced to hearsay."

"That will be a problem." He admitted with a wry smile. "I suppose we just can't limit either side to telling the truth."

"The truth is no problem for us, Captain." O'Brien declared. "For her, however -"

"There are two sides to every truth! Maybe once you know mine - ."

"Hah! I'm looking forward to being the one who pulls the trigger!" Sisko held his hands up for silence. He was actually surprised that he got it.

"This is not the hearing. I am convening the hearing in the ward room at ten hundred hours, some eight hours from now. You can all present your arguments in a calm and reasonable fashion then." He turned to Ezri Tigan. "Federation law permits you your choice of Counsel, to speak on your behalf."

"Thank you, Captain. I choose Ezri Dax. I think of all people she is best qualified to understand my motives."

"What?! No. I refuse. I'm rooting for the Executioner."

"Dax!"

"I said '_no'_, Benjamin!"

"What about Garak?" Bashir asked. "He was a spy as well; he can express the professional side." Odo gave a bitter laugh.

"Elim Garak and Ezri Tigan in the same room would raise obfuscation to heights undreamed of in the annals of espionage."

"What about you, Odo?" Kira asked. "If anybody knows law and can be impartial -."

"It's Odo." Sisko finished. "That's why I am appointing you as Judge."

There was a long, deafening silence.

"What?" Captain O'Brien asked mockingly. "Out of two whole universes, you don't have even one supporter?"

"_I_ will speak for her." Worf's basso profundo voice broke through the room.

"What?" Dax's voice held barely concealed outrage.

"Worf," Bashir began, "she isn't Jadzia. She isn't even Dax-."

"No. She is Ezri Tigan, and everyone is aligned against her. She may not have an ally, but she will have a Defender."

Worf, Bashir and Ezri Dax escorted Ezri Tigan to a holding cell in the brig. In the large room behind Odo's office, there were four alcoves, enclosed on three sides by durasteel and on the fourth with an invisible force field. A uniformed deputy, this time female, would monitor the prisoner. "If I am going to help you," Worf told her outside the cell, "you must tell me the truth in all things." She smiled up at him.

"The truth does not come easy in my job. Sometimes I think the job has taken over."

"Nevertheless, I must have it."

"There are more than two sides of truth."

"We are interested in only one side." He directed her to step across the threshold, and when she did the force field flickered into place between them.

"Worf, I thank you for your help. You are much nicer than the Regent is. But no matter what happens, at least now they won't kill me."

"Why do you say that?" She patted her abdomen, looking directly at Bashir.

"I'm pregnant now with your child." She smiled. "That's why I came today. Why I did this. In these 44 hours, two Trill days, I am ovulating and at the height of my cycle. They have their own brand of honor; inherited, no doubt, from the Klingons. They will not kill a pregnant woman.

"There is a planet, Sacaro Three; primitive, no technology. People are beamed there and there is no technology to ever get off again. The Confederation uses it as an exile colony. No matter what happens, I am going to live and have Julian's baby." She looked at Ezri. "I may never be joined - that part I told you about Trill is true - but I will know the sensation you do, of having a life inside me."

Julian shook his head sadly. "I am so sorry."

Her smile collapsed. "Sorry? What? What sorry?"

"You're not pregnant, you can't be, at least not from any man on this station."

"What?!" Her voice was barely a strained whisper.

"Everyone here, unless actively seeking to have a family, takes a monthly injection. I can give you detailed medical information; suffice it to say that fertilization is impossible."

Ezri's face went dead white. Her knees gave way and she sat down hard on the bed. She stared straight at them, but they could tell she was not seeing them.

"Would you excuse us please?" Worf asked quietly. "We have much to do." They want out slowly, Dax still watching Tigan's face. She was white, unmoving, and it seemed as if her universe had just collapsed around her.


	4. The Trial of Ezri Tigan

**Chapter Four**

The Trial of Ezri Tigan.

The large Ward Room had been set up as a makeshift court. Constable Odo sat behind a table at one end of the room, a chair to his left beside the table. In front of that chair had been wheeled a small machine in the form of a silver tower, cylindrical in shape.

He faced two tables, at the one on his left sat Captain O'Brien and Professor Jennifer Sisko, at the other sat Worf and Ezri Tigan. Along the left wall ranged a line of chairs for the Senior Staff. There was a Security Guard stationed unobtrusively in each corner of the room. There were no others present.

"Computer, begin recording." Odo ordered. There was a chirrup from the speaker to indicate that the record was being made of everything said and done in the room. "I think everyone knows very well why we are here. Do either Captain O'Brien or Professor Sisko wish to make an opening statement before I call the first witness?" Jennifer stood up.

"Yes, your honor. It is the intention of the Confederation to show that the defendant, Ezri Tigan, did provide, during time of war, crucial information on strategy, defensive and offensive strengths and weaknesses to an enemy engaged in hostile action against us. We contend that she did, on numerous occasions, maneuver herself into positions of trust with unsuspecting officers and civilians, and did use the knowledge she gained as a result to provide the enemy forces with tactical and military assistance, resulting in the loss of countless lives, of ships, of munitions and of property. We do formerly charge Ezri Tigan with espionage, and demand her extradition to face charges and punishment in her home dimension." So concluding, she sat down.

"Does Ezri Tigan or Commander Worf wish to make an opening statement?" Worf was about to rise, but Ezri beat him to it.

"Yes, your honor. I want a medical examination."

There was a buzz of noise in answer to this declaration, but Odo beat it down.

"A medical examination? Right now?" He asked with an incredulous tone.

"Yes, your honor. A medical examination, right now."

"If it please the court," Worf began, rising. Next to Ezri he looked more like a tower. "The results of the exam will have a direct bearing on our legal strategy in this case." Odo shrugged.

"Granted. Doctor?" Bashir came forward from his chair, his ever present medical tricorder in his hand. To give her a certain level of privacy, he started at the top of her head and scanned thoroughly, slowly, found what he was looking for and kept going without a pause, ending up halfway down her legs. He turned the tricorder off, addressing her in very quiet tones.

"I can confirm what I told you last night."

"I'm not?" She whispered.

"No. I'm sorry."

"Julian, you have absolutely no idea how sorry I am."

He turned and went back to his seat, not looking at anyone, clearly having no intention of reporting his findings. Ezri slowly sat down, a stricken look on her face. Worf stood up.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is the defense intention to prove that in all cases to be discussed Ezri Tigan performed her duty as a loyal member of the Alliance. That as an agent of that Alliance, in time of war, she performed such duties as espionage for the support of those to whom she owes her loyalty. The Trill of the dimension in question is an Alliance world, subject to its control, and that she performed as a faithful citizen and soldier of that world and government.

"We contend that, as such, she does not stand charged with treason, nor of any charge for which the death penalty is a result. We maintain that her status is as a legal prisoner of a declared war, and that she be treated in accordance with the rules relating thereto."

"Our laws do allow for the execution of prisoners of war in certain circumstances." Jennifer told him.

"In that case, we contend that execution, according to Federation principles and laws, is excessive and inhumane, and that the original Asylum be maintained." O'Brien was on his feet, but Odo was faster.

"Everyone will have an opportunity to speak in turn, proceeding under _my_ direction. Is that clear to everyone?" He got the agreement he was seeking, though it was a very grudging one indeed. "The Confederation may call their first witness." Jennifer stood up.

"I call Captain Miles O'Brien." He stepped up to the chair at the side of Odo's table and sat down.

"Please place your hand on the top of the column." Odo instructed. When he did, the computer's voice reported from a speaker set in its face.

"Verified, O'Brien, Miles Edward, Service Rank: Chief of Operations, Starfleet. Current Assignment: Deep Space Station 9. Former Assignment: Lieutenant, USS Enterprise. Registry NCC-1701-D—"

"Computer, stop." Odo ordered.

"Can't wait until it gets to mine." Jennifer said with a grin, which died as she saw the look on Sisko's face. "I'm sorry, Ben, I wasn't thinking." He didn't answer. To cover the awkward moment, she turned to her witness. "Tell me, Captain, when did you first meet Ezri Tigan?"

"I first encountered her six years ago, while I was a Theta level technician on Terok Nor. On that day I was called into Intendant Kira Nerys' quarters to repair a faulty ODN conduit. To put it in perspective, it was about a year before your universe's Kira and Bashir came to Terok Nor."

"And at that time, what was Ezri Tigan doing?"

"She was on her knees, naked, licking the Intendant's pussy."

"OBJECTION!" Worf's voice could have ruptured the plating on the walls. The reactions of those in the room ran from surprise to titillation, except for Ezri, who hung her head.

"Sustained." He fixed O'Brien with a hard glare. "Everyone here knows about the sexual proclivities, not to mention excesses, of the Intendant. You will, however, restrict your testimony to the relevant issues of this case."

"This is relevant."

"I'll be fascinated to hear how."

"The Intendant liked showing her power even more, if possible, than having it. To her, all existence was a game of seduction in which she always won. No one would dare have her lose. Having a valuable operative seen publicly in such a situation, exposing me to it when there was nothing I could do for or against it, regardless of my feelings, was to simultaneously show her contempt for, and superiority over, us both."

"And this is relevant because?"

"While Ezri Tigan was ... working ... Kira Nerys was giving her instructions regarding the infiltration of the Calmiri Royal Court. She was to gather specific information on their plans and activities regarding an upcoming vote in the Alliance Council."

"And her orders?"

"To infiltrate the Court, gather information about their activities, and return with all of it to Terok Nor."

"Your witness, Commander." She said, feeling that she had established the first part of her case, that of Ezri being a spy. Worf, however, felt like she had handed him the case on a platter.

"Captain O'Brien, you maintain that the Intendant presented an espionage operative with her case while said operative was ... servicing her?"

"Yes."

"And that she was presenting strategic tactical plans while a Theta class technician was in the room?"

"Her contempt, you see. She knew perfectly well that I would not warn the Calmiri."

"And did you?"

"No."

"What was the result?"

"The information Ezri gathered led to the assassination of the Arch Duke, when false evidence she was ordered to plant accused him of betraying the Alliance. This allowed the Alliance to establish a firmer hold on that world, reducing it from a full member to a protectorate."

"But you knew in advance that this was going to happen?"

"Yes." O'Brien answered uncomfortably.

"So Ezri started it, under the Intendant's orders, but you could have stopped it. Frankly, that says less about Ezri than it does about you. No further questions." He returned to his seat, and Ezri patted his arm, a bright smile on her face.

"Masterfully done." She whispered.

"Do not get too confident, we are not home yet."

Thus it proceeded, for over an hour, the prosecution setting up case after case where they had found that Ezri's infiltrations and observations had led to strikes first against Alliance members, then against the rebels during the war. But it was during that period, when Ezri was spying on the rebels, consequently including the duplicates of people in this room or those known to them; that Worf saw they were losing their sympathy base, and were losing ground. The stress on Ezri's face was enough to tell everyone just how much.

In fact, as things got closer to reports on the present, matters got worse. The pair outlined specifics about rebel tactical plans that got 'obtained' by Ezri, and resulted in significant losses. They described reconstructions of evidence that found that using methods ranging from seduction to surveillance, Ezri racked up a significant toll against the rebellion and the later Confederation.

"One thing I do not understand." Worf said when it came his time to cross-examine O'Brien for the third time. "How did you catch her?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"It was a simple question. You two have described a masterful agent who to this day should be working successfully and thumbing her nose at the Confederation. How did you capture her?"

"Well, we weren't exactly looking for her where we found her. You see, she had dropped out of sight for months. She was always like that, she got deep under cover, and we only found out what she had done after picking up the pieces, finding out from witnesses that she had been there, and reconstructing what she had done. She was very good."

"So it seems. So, what happened?"

"She got sloppy. Really sloppy. She got careless, clearly starting to lose her edge. She let herself be seen, traced. She almost got caught once; if she hadn't outrun the agent chasing her she'd have been caught. But it was an amateur's mistake she made, not one I would have expected of a professional. She got sloppier, made stupid mistakes. In the end she practically walked into us."

"And when was this?"

"It was first noticed that she lost her edge not long after we lost one of the Defiant-class ships, the '_Abraham_ _Lincoln'_, and after it was destroyed we traced back and found out that she had been there. She had been at the base for weeks, and no one recognized her. After she was gone, the Lincoln was ambushed by 4 Alliance cruisers and destroyed. It was the first major loss of a cruiser, but it had on board most of our leading tactical and strategic planners. Its loss was a major blow to the Confederation.

"That's what we really want her for especially, the destruction of the _Lincoln_."

"NOOOOO!" Ezri screamed, jumping to her feet. Worf spun, astonished, as were they all, to see tears flowing down her face. "Not the _Lincoln_! I had nothing to do with that!" She charged O'Brien, screaming "Take it back, you fucking bastard!" But the four guards, converging from every corner, restrained her. "Not the _Lincoln_!" She screamed; everyone in the room stunned by her hysterics. "Kill me for anything else, but not for the _Lincoln_!" Bashir got into the tight knot of bodies, and she clutched him, nails digging into his arms as the guards struggled to restrain her without hurting her. "I didn't do it, Julian! You've got to believe me, Julian! I didn't do anything to the _Lincoln_!"

"Get her to the Infirmary!" He ordered. They started to drag her out.

"Kill me for anything else, I don't _care_ anymore, but not for the _Lincoln_!" Her voice rose to a hysterical shriek as they practically had to carry her out. "Not the _Lincoln_! Not the _LINCOLN_! NOT THE _LINCOLN_!" The doors closed on her shrieks, but did not cut them off. They could still hear her voice receding as she was dragged down the corridor.

When finally there was silence all present stood where they were, speechless. The silence was haunting, dragging them down, until Odo spoke softly. "This hearing is in recess."


	5. The Verdict

**Chapter Five**

The Verdict

Ezri Dax stood outside the force field, looking at her twin. She had been doing it for quite some time now, but Ezri Tigan seemed not to notice her. She sat on the floor, back to the wall, her bare legs up and clutched at the knees. She had her head down and looked abjectly miserable.

Dax waited a few seconds longer. It was one thing to be ignored by someone else, but to be ignored by yourself ...

"So. Do you want to tell me about the _Lincoln_?" Tigan didn't move. Five seconds, ten, fifteen, finally a slow shaking of her head. "Fine. You don't have to. I must say I'm surprised, though. They accuse you of killing what, thousands, tens of thousands, and you don't bat an eye. Oh, I know it was war, but this ship, that was war too. Why this one sh-." Tigan looked up, and Dax was astonished to see tears streaming down her face. She didn't speak, didn't cry out, didn't make a sound, but just sat there trembling, sobbing silently, the kind of deep, overwhelming sorrow that goes beyond all expression. "Talk to me." She didn't, or couldn't speak. "Ezri, I don't think you're going to get through this. I think you're going to lose and they're going to come for you, take you away and kill you. But it's for what you say you didn't do." Her expression was breaking, trembling getting worse, but no matter how hard she cried, how miserably, she didn't utter a sound. "Talk to me, Ezri. Please." She put her head down. Ezri reached for the field controls.

"Lieutenant?" The female deputy at the control station called warningly. Ezri paused, her hand above the control, and turned back.

"Dismissed." The woman hesitated. "That's an order."

"Yes, ma'am." She turned and left her station, and when the door closed behind her Ezri touched the panel. The field flickered and was gone. Ezri stepped in and knelt before her twin, putting a hand on her trembling shoulder. Ezri Tigan looked up slowly, tears dripping from her red eyes.

"Talk to me." She whispered. The other woman tried once, again, finally put her head back down between her knees. Ezri knelt still for many seconds, then longer, then slowly started to stand. She was about halfway up when Tigan got three words out, three words torn from a shattered soul, three words that drowned horribly in a lifetime of misery.

"_Julian is dead!_"

Ezri reached out to touch her twin, and the other girl broke, flinging her arms around her, clinging tightly as she wailed brokenly, heart-wrenching sobs that shook her body mercilessly, grief such as Ezri never wanted to imagine but knew she could share. She hugged her twin close as she sobbed brokenly, clinging to her as she wept an unending torrent of tears.

"Can you talk?" Ezri asked softly a long time later, long after the sobbing had quieted. Tigan shook her head.

"But I have to." She whispered, unable to raise her voice. Ezri reached for a towel off the sink, but it was too far away. Disengaging herself for a moment, she grabbed the towel and was back, sitting with her back against the wall and slipping an arm around her twin's shoulders as the other wiped her face. "How long have you been here?" Tigan whispered.

"In with you?" The girl nodded. "About 20 minutes." She smiled sadly.

"I always could work up to a good cry."

"Same here." They sat in companionable silence for several moments. "You know," she said softly, "you'll really feel better if you talk about it."

"I haven't been able to talk about it."

"Well, if you can't talk to me, who can you talk to?"

"Believe it or not, I came here hoping we would be able to talk. I didn't realize how much a mess I would make of it, though. Or how much you would hate me."

"I don't hate you." Ezri paused, vastly surprised when she realized it was not a lie. "I did," she admitted, "but not anymore."

"When I came, I had a scheme, to protect myself by getting pregnant, but the real truth is that I wanted Julian's baby. We were going to have a baby, you see, he and I, but we didn't get the chance. God, I loved him! I loved him - I guess as much as you do."

"Was he aboard the _Lincoln_?"

"He was the Captain."

Tigan collapsed against Dax. "My god, I never could do what they say. I didn't! You don't have to believe me if you don't want to, no one else will because it sounds so trite, but I was giving up. That's why I was out of sight for so long. I was with Julian. But he knew what I was, and didn't care!" She looked up at Ezri, wonder in her eyes. "Dear God, he knew and he didn't care! He was the first man who loved me for me, not for some seductress, not for some seductive whore, not for some ... He loved me!"

"He's special. Both of him."

"I don't know what happened with the _Lincoln_, I had nothing to do with it. But when I heard, on my way to actually resign, so we could have a life together, I lost my mind. Nothing mattered. I went to hell. I'm surprised it took them this long to catch me.

"I was willing to go to my death, nothing mattered in life anymore. But even though I've fucked up my life I discovered I was scared to lose it. And then I hit on an escape plan. I'd been here before, on business. It was easy. I guess too easy, they got me in two hours.

"I was going to see Julian, I wanted to have his baby, even if it wasn't really Julian. I'd raise him here in this dimension, somewhere far away, teach him about his father, the things every child should know about his father, the hero." The sobs threatened to break free, but she got them under control.

"Then I saw him, and he was alive. He was alive! My Julian! I went - I went nuts. Fucked up everything. You were never supposed to have even known I was here. Get laid, see Captain Sisko for asylum. My backup plan was to steal a shuttle; your voice commands would be perfect, land on Bajor and be gone by planet dawn.

"But I fucked everything up. I'll never have Julian's baby. My Julian will never live again, not even in his child. Hell, the way they were looking at me I'll probably be dead by this evening.

"I can't make apologies for what I did in the war. I'm a soldier, and it is war. But the rest of my life, my personal life, I really fucked that up, didn't I?"

Ezri never had the chance to answer as a large shadow fell over them. They looked up to see Worf standing outside the deactivated field, a look of displeasure on his glowering face. "The hearing is due to resume. Are you ready?"

"As ready as I will ever be." Tigan stood up, and faced Worf, eyes clear, back straight, head held high. Her emotional catharsis, and soul bearing, had cleared her mind. She felt it had returned her dignity. "It is a good day to die."

"Perhaps, it is a good day to live."

"Ezri Tigan, you have heard the charges and specifications against you. Do you wish to make a statement or cross examine?" Odo asked.

"No, your honor."

"Then you may present your case."

"No, your honor."

The room went utterly silent. Odo leaned forward. "Did you just say 'no'?"

"Yes, your honor, I did. But come to think of it, I will make a statement."

"Proceed."

"I am a spy, and my duty is to support my government, and in so doing protect my world, defend and promote it. I did my duty to the best of my ability, and for these things I make no apology. But people can change, and I did.

"It has been said I dropped out of sight in the last few months. That's not exactly so. I was in sight, the sight of a good man. The sight of a man I came to love, to love with all my heart and all my soul, and he loved me just as much. And he showed me something in myself, something I thought had died, but he brought it back to life again.

"I was ready to leave the Alliance. My love for him was more than for my government, my job, my ... We were going to go away, someplace safe, someplace away from war and treachery and mistrust. We were going to raise a family together, to live out our days together." She choked, and had to stop until she got her emotions, her voice, back under control.

"He is dead. And I know now I will never find anyone like him again. I got captured, and frankly I didn't care. My life ended when his did, my soul left with his. I was ready to die, but at the last I - I was afraid. I ran, looking for a safe place.

"It's been said that I lost my edge. Maybe that's true, I've been captured twice in a week, but the truth is I lost my soul. I came here looking for it, but I couldn't find it, because the man I love more than life itself is dead, and he will never be back. He's not here.

"I am facing a death sentence, and the deep irony is that you want to kill me not for what I did, but for the one thing in my entire life that I did not do. I've spied, infiltrated, planted false evidence, toppled governments, stolen plans and information, left others in their places, and those are recognized as acts of war, and part of my job. The irony is that you want me to die for the destruction of the _Abraham_ _Lincoln_, and that is the one thing in my whole career that I did not do.

"I still want to live. I still want asylum, a chance for life, but I know that whether I stay or go it is the same, because my love, and my soul, have been ripped from me. So I am ready for the vote on asylum. Because to stay and live, or to go back and die - I am ready."

There was a long pause, and then Sisko slowly stood up. "All senior staff, Attention." All save Jennifer and Capt. O'Brien came to attention. "Prepare to vote on the appeal for Asylum."

"Captain, please wait!" Tigan held her hands out.

"Yes?"

"I came here looking for friends. Whatever happens, I really, really don't want to know!"

"All right." Ezri Tigan turned around, closing her eyes. "All in favor of Asylum?" She held her breath. "All opposed?" She waited tensely. "Ezri?" She slowly let her breath out, opening her eyes and turning around. "I'm sorry."

She felt a hand clutch her heart tightly, but tried very hard to keep her face calm. She would not demean herself by showing how much it hurt, and how much she was afraid. "Thank you." She whispered to those unknown who had tried to save her. Jennifer and Capt. O'Brien stood up and came forward.

"Ezri Tigan," Jennifer said. "You are under arrest. Come with us."

She took a deep breath, held it, let it out slowly and stepped forward.

"Wait!" Dax exclaimed. "This hearing is not closed, and I demand to file a motion."

"The vote is taken."

"Doesn't matter, we're still convened!" She turned to Odo. "I want an hour's delay!"

"Why?"

"I can't tell you."

"This is ridiculous." Jennifer said. She spun on the dark woman.

"You've been chasing her for years, she's still your prisoner, what difference does one hour make? I want to talk to her!"

"What could you possibly say in an hour," O'Brien demanded, "that would make any difference?"

"None of your damn business!" She turned to Odo. "I demand my hour!" Odo, uncertain, caught a subtle signal from Sisko.

"All right. From the time she returns to the holding cell, you have 1 hour."

"Commander Worf, escort the prisoner back to holding."

"No!" Dax exclaimed. "Julian, you do it!"

The expressions on the faces around her, as she overruled the Captain's order, ranged from incredulous to shocked. Sisko's own look of surprise was tempered with a glare at her, telling her silently how dangerously close she was coming to insubordination. Finally, he said in a carefully level tone: "Doctor, will you do the honors?"

"Yes, sir."

Ezri grabbed her twin's arm. "Talk to him!" Before anyone could say a word, she was gone, hurrying out the door, which slid closed behind her, cutting her off from the stunned assemblage.

Captain O'Brien turned to Jennifer. "Are you certain we got the right one?"


	6. The Gambit

**Chapter Six**

The Gambit

Julian Bashir walked the duplicate of his beloved Ezri back to her cell, knowing that for some special reason Ezri had risked a great deal to get them together, though he could not imagine why. 'Talk to him,' she had urged her twin before running off, but Bashir had nothing to say to this girl. Frankly, he thought that after the ballot they would never see one another again, and now he had been maneuvered into spending time with her.

He put her in the cell, activating the door. "Ezri told you to talk to me. Frankly, I can't imagine why. What could you have to say to me?"

"Remember when we met."

"It was less than a day ago, and I'm not likely to ever forget!" He looked at the chronometer on the wall with vast annoyance. Sixty minutes and counting. 'Ezri, you had better get here fast!'

But it was actually forty minutes before Ezri entered Odo's office. He looked up at her in surprise. "You ask for an hour, and then disappear for two thirds of it?"

"Sorry, couldn't be helped. Is Julian in there with her?"

"He is."

"Odo, I have to ask you an important favor." He hrmmphed.

"Another favor? Have you any idea just how over budget you are?"

"I'll make it up to you."

"Hrmmph. What is it now?"

"I want you to turn the security monitors off in there." He leaned forward, looking at her, his thoughts clear in his expression. "Odo, please. What I have to tell her is personal. Really, deeply, truly personal." He wasn't giving an inch. "Odo, please. I don't have much time. If you want me to, I'll get down on my knees and beg."

"Now wouldn't that be a picture for someone to pass by and see?" He indicated the mostly transparent door to the promenade.

"Please?" He shook his head, and pressed a button on his desk. "Thank you! I'll make this up to you, I promise."

"Just ask me no more such 'favors', and we'll call your rather large debt paid."

"I swear."

"Hrmmph."

x

When Dax entered the cells, Julian and her twin were engaged in an intense conversation. "I'm sorry I'm late."

"That's all right." Julian said. "If you'll both excuse me, I have something important to take care of." He kissed her lightly. "I'll see you later." When he left, Dax turned to the deputy, but she held out her hand.

"I know. 'Dismissed'."

"Thank you."

Alone with her, Ezri touched the force field control, and it flickered out of existence. "I don't have time to explain. Take your panties off, lie down on the bed and spread your legs."

Tigan stared at her, eyes wide. "I had no idea you went like that."

"You wish. Come on, we've got to hurry." Not sure if her twin had lost her mind, Ezri reached under her short skirt and pulled her panties down to the floor, lay down on the thin bed and spread her legs wide. She looked up apprehensively as Ezri sat down beside her, biting her lip as the Starfleet lieutenant reached for her. "Kind of dry." She commented, wetting her thumb with her tongue and starting to lightly tease the girl's clitoris. "Fortunately, you're me, so I know how to moisten things up fast."

Tigan gasped. "You sure do!" She breathed heavily, her hips raising seemingly of their own accord to reach Ezri's fingers.

"I'm probably going to have nightmares about this." She muttered, using her fingers to stroke 'her own' vagina, stimulating her clitoris.

"But - ohhhh - what are you - ooohhhhhhh - doing?" Ezri Dax paused, reaching into the left sleeve of her uniform and pulling out a gleaming piece of silver metal, about nine inches long and tapered at one end.

"Do you know what this is?" She held it before her twin's eyes.

"An ultratech dildo?"

"No, concentrate." She continued stroking the writhing woman with her fingertips.

"I could if you'd stop playing with my pussy!"

"I am not playing!"

"You're telling me!" She gasped, arching her hips. Ezri stopped touching her.

"This is a stasis rod. It's used for preserving medical samples, sometimes for years. Now listen. Julian, as you may or may not be aware, was genetically enhanced as a child. Several years ago he hit on the idea for an experiment, wanting to see if the genetic material could be cloned or breed true. I'm not sure he even knew what he wanted, but anyway, he had to stop taking the contraceptive shots for about three months, until they were completely purged from his system. I understand from Nurse Camille that for that time he couldn't be with any ... well, she says he was ready to chew neutronium by the time the experiment was ready."

Ezri Tigan laughed, and Dax held the gleaming tube up. "Anyway, this contains 100 pure Julian." She brought it down between Tigan's legs. "This is going to be just about the unsexiest thing you've ever done; I'll probably have nightmares; and if he finds out he'll strangle me, but here goes."

Together they worked to open her, and to gradually work the tube deep inside her. "Just relax."

"Easier for you to say." Tigan gasped.

"Just lay back, close your eyes -."

"And think of Trill."

They both started to laugh, Dax almost dropping the tube as Tigan's muscles contracted involuntarily. She pushed it in deep, pressed the button at the base, and Tigan's eyes shot open. She gasped, clutching herself, and her body trembled. After a long moment, Ezri slowly drew the device out. "You came!" She smiled 'accusingly'.

"Did not!" Dax held up her wet hand, Tigan lowered her head to the pillow. "Did too."

"You okay?"

She nodded. Dax leaned down and collected Tigan's panties, standing up and giving them back. "Wish we had time to discuss some of those enhancements you talked about." She said wistfully, dressing.

"They do make for some interesting ... experiences."

"Yes!"

"What was your Julian like?" Tigan smiled sadly.

"Gentle when I needed gentle, loving when I needed loving, rough when I needed rough, sadistic when I needed sadistic. I was so lucky." She looked up. "And your Julian?"

"The same. Well, except for... well, without the sadism."

"Really?"

"Uh huh."

"You should get him to try it. Maybe you'll find you like it." She thought it over.

"Maybe."

x

The door to the brig opened and the entire senior staff entered, coming over to range themselves behind Sisko. Jennifer and Captain O'Brien were not with them. "Are you ready?" Sisko asked. Steeling herself, Ezri Tigan stood up. She reached out for Dax, and the twins shared a brief but meaningful hug. Then she turned and looked at Sisko, took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"I'm ready."

"Good." He reached out, taking her arm, and drew her out of the cell. "I've been considering your itinerary." He said, putting an arm around her shoulders and walking with her. "I'm thinking a few days on the station, to get you acclimated to Federation practices, then some time on Bajor," she stopped dead, his arm falling off her as he kept walking. He turned back to her with an enthusiastic smile. "And I just _know_ you'll want an extended vacation on Trill!"

Her mouth opened to exclaim, but nothing came out as she clutched her chest. She tried again, then a third time, finally managing a squeak. "WHAT?!"

"I'm referring to your future. You know, you're going to have to get used to the way we do things here. Espionage is simply out of the question!"

"But I'm on my way to DIE!" Sisko shook his head.

"That was before Dr. Bashir hunted me down, grabbed me by the beard and demanded to change his vote."

"I didn't grab you by the beard."

"Close enough."

"You mean I can - That is, I'm not going to - I mean, you're granting me -" She forced herself to shut up, until she could think of a question that didn't make her sound completely stupid. "What about Professor Sisko and Captain O'Brien."

"Oh they were furious. Absolutely livid. But when we brought out that you had a motive for not destroying the 'Abraham Lincoln', they decided that 'dead and gone' or just 'gone' amounted to the same thing. You just can't go back."

"Believe me, I am not going back!"

"Well then, it's just a matter of figuring out what you're going to do here."

She turned to Julian. "And you turned the vote around."

"Well, yes." She leapt into his arms so unexpectedly, kissing him so enthusiastically, that they both almost toppled over if Worf had not caught them. Dax tapped Tigan on the shoulder.

"Down, girl. Mine." Tigan looked at her twin brightly, Julian looked bemused, and the twins hugged one another enthusiastically.

"Everyone to Quark's!" Miles shouted. They cheered. "On Julian's tab!" There was one less cheerer, but in a few moments, the knot of celebrants was gone, leaving Sisko and Odo behind. They would follow in moments, but Sisko stood looking thoughtfully at the just closed door.

"Tell me, Constable. Do you think the universe is ready for two Ezris?"

He hrmmphed. "Not a chance."

**Epilogue**

Over the next month life aboard Deep Space Nine gradually returned to normal. Ezri Tigan had spent, as Sisko had suggested, a week there adjusting to her new life, then a fortnight on Bajor before departing for Trill. Ben Sisko sat in his office, mired in reports and other work, when the large door to Ops slid open and Dax entered. "Got a minute?" He smiled brightly.

"Of course, Old man. Get me away from this work, you can have all the minutes you want."

"I received a communication this morning from Ezri Tigan."

"Ah. How is she?"

"Doing pretty well. She says Trill is like coming home as a tourist. She keeps running into people who think she's me. And she keeps running into people she thinks she knows, but they're not."

"She's going to have a lot of adjusting to do. But she has an advantage there. That entire planet is full of people who are used to adjusting to new lives."

"She'll be fine. But she wanted me to know that she'd been to the doctor. Apparently, she has a souvenir from her Julian Bashir she didn't know about when she left."

"Are you saying - ?"

"She's about a month along."

He smiled broadly. "Well, that is good news!"

"Trill gestation is about Earth ten months, since our planet rotates just a bit faster, 22 hour days and all that. Anyway, we figure in Earth time that's about September 6th. She says she wants to come back after that to show little Julian off."

"She's already got the name."

"Oh yes, it'll be 'Julia' if it's a girl, but that part is settled already."

"When she calls again, please give her all our congratulations, and tell her we're looking forward to seeing your nephew or niece soon."

"O.K." She stopped. "That is really weird."

"Tell me about it."

"Well, anyway, I just wanted you to know. See you later."

"Thanks, old man."

She turned and left, starting down the stairs, but then stopped, one hand held low on her abdomen. She stood for a few seconds, a small smile appearing on her lips.


End file.
